Hortense yearns for a new life away from rural Jamaica. Gilbert dreams of becoming a lawyer. Queenie longs to escape her Lincolnshire roots. Three intimately connected stories, tracing the tangled history of Jamaica and Britain.
Andrea Levy's epic novel, adapted for the stage by Helen Edmundson, journeys from Jamaica to Britain in 1948 - the year that HMT Empire Windrush docked at Tilbury.
Small Island was first performed at the National Theatre, London, in 2019, in an acclaimed production directed by Rufus Norris. This revised edition of the play was published alongside the revival of the production in 2022.
'Extraordinary. A spectacular adaptation of Andrea Levy's Windrush novel'
- Observer
'Edmundson has a knack for skilfully distilling story... ferociously entertaining'
- Time Out
'A landmark in the National Theatre's history: a tumultuous epic about first-generation Jamaican immigrants... skilfully adapted... one of the most important plays of the year'
- Guardian
'Inspiring adaptation... a gripping state-of-the-nation epic... the show acknowledges struggle and strife on all sides, flies the flag for compassion and achieves a hard-won (and still to be fought for) inclusivity'
- Telegraph
'A passionate engagement with the past that's sure to resonate with audiences at a time when the very idea of Britain is under such fierce scrutiny'
- Evening Standard
'Utterly sensational - an engrossing, all-embracing piece of theatre... a staggering achievement'
- WhatsOnStage
'Beautifully translated to stage by adaptor Helen Edmundson, using thrilling theatrical solutions to honour Levy's epic - and still urgent - tale... a stirring spectacle that never loses sight of the people at its heart'
- Broadway World
